Strike Witches: World War Witches
by Elizabeth Maximilian Lestrad
Summary: An encounter with the Neuroi turns a routine encounter into the battle of their lives as the witches find themselves in the middle of the deadliest war in human history: World War II
1. Disclaimer & Notes (Read if Reviewing)

**DISCLAIMER****: **THIS STORY IS A WORK OF FICTION. WHILE MANY PEOPLE IN THIS STORY ACCTUALLY EXISTED, SIGNIFICANT ARTISTIC LICENSE HAS BEEN TAKEN AS TO HOW THOSE CHARACTERS ARE PORTRATYED IN ORDER TO FIT THEM IN BETTER WITH THE STORY'S INTENDED PLOT. NO OFFENSE IS INTENDED DUE TO THE MANNER OF WHICH THE CHARACTERS IN THIS STORY OR ITS EVENTS ARE PORTRAYED.

**AS PER THE ABOVE DISCLAIMER PLEASE DO NOT BRING UP COMMENTS OR REVIEWS REGARDING CHARACTER OR EVENT PORTRAYALS, DATES, OR OTHER CONFLICTS WITH FACTS. THE STORY IS WRITTEN EXACTLY HOW I INTEND IT TO BE. ANY CONCERNS OF THIS NATURE SHOULD BE VIA PM.**

**THE CAST (Including Cameo Appearances):**

**The Witches:****  
><strong>****Air Marshall Adolphine Galland**** –Commander-in-Chief of the Witches**  
><strong>****Wing Commander Minna Dietland-Wilcke**** – Commander of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing**  
><strong>****Wing Commander Gundula Rall**** – Commander of the 502nd Joint Fighter Wing**  
><strong>****Major Heidemarie Schaufner**** – Karsland Night Witch**  
><strong>****Major Friederike Porsche**** – Karlsland Heer, Weapons Development**  
><strong>****Group Captain Hanna Rudel**** – Karlsland Anti-Ground Witch  
><strong><br>****The Allies:****  
><strong>**General Dwight D. Eisenhower** – Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force, European Theater of Operations**  
>General Bernard Mongomery<strong> – Commander of the Allied Forces 21st Army Group**  
>General George Patton<strong> – Commander of the US Third Army**  
>General Omar Bradley<strong> – Commander of the US First Army  
><strong>Air Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory<strong> – Commander-in-Chief Allied Expeditionary Air Force**  
>Rear Admiral Bert Ramsay<strong> – Commander-in-Chief Allied Naval Expeditionary Force**  
>Flying Officer Charles Yeager<strong> – US Army Air Force Pilot**  
>Flying Officer Arthur Bishop<strong> – Royal Air Force Pilot**  
>Flying Officer Pierre Clostermann<strong> – Free French Air Force Pilot**  
><strong>****Captain Charles Maitlen**** – US Army Captain

**The Nazis:  
><strong>**Adolph Hitler –** The insane leader of the Third Reich**  
>Hermann Goering – <strong>Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe**  
>Hauptsturmfuhrer Michael Whittmann<strong> – Tank Ace, Waffen SS fanatic**  
><strong>****Albert Speer**** – Minister of Armaments and War Production

**The Ahnenerbe:**  
><strong>Heinrich Himmler<strong> – Reichsfuhrer of the Schutzstaffle and founder of the Ahnenerbe**  
><strong>****Wolfram Sievers**** – Director of the Ahnenerbe's scientific research division

**The German Army:****  
><strong>**Erwin Rommel** – Commander of the "Ghost Division" (7th Panzer Division)**  
><strong>****Hienz Guderian**** – Commander of the 2nd Panzer Division**  
><strong>****Major Wilhelm Bach**** – Second in Command, "Ghost Division"**  
>Captain Karl Deiter<strong> – Assistant to General Rommel (Fictional Character)**  
>Wing Commander Wolf Dietrich Wilcke<strong> – Newly appointed commander of the JG-53**  
>Captain Erich Hartmann<strong> – German Air Force Pilot, JG-53**  
>Captain Gerhard Barkhorn<strong> - German Air Force Pilot, JG-53**  
><strong>****Frigate Captain Kessler**** – Captain of the German U-boat 'U-805'

**The Russians:  
><strong>**Lieutenant General Vasily Chuikov** – Commander of the 64th Army at Stalingrad**  
><span>****Wing Commander****Marina Raskova** – Lydia Litvyak's commanding officer**  
><span>****Senior Lieutenant Lydia 'Lilya' Litvyak** – Soviet Air Force Pilot, Finnish Front**  
><strong>**  
><strong>**The Japanese:  
><strong>****Hirohito –**** Emperor of Japan  
><strong><strong>Marquis Koichi Kido <strong>**– Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, Adviser to the Emperor  
><strong><strong>Prime Minister Hideki Tojo <strong>**– Prime Minister of Japan  
><strong><strong>Captain Nobuei Morishita<strong>** – Captain of the Battleship Yamato  
><strong><strong>Captain Taijiro Aoki<strong>** – Captain of the Aircraft Carrier Akagi  
><strong><strong>Sub Lieutenant <strong>******Saburo Sakai**** – Imperial Japan Air Force Pilot  
><strong><strong>Ensign <strong>******Kaneyoshi Muto ****– Imperial Japan Air Force Pilot

****Other:******  
><span>******Flying Officer Eino Juutilainen**** – Finish Air Force Pilot****  
>Flying Officer Niles Katajainen<strong>** – Eino's Wingman**  
><strong>****Ensign Francisco Lucchinni**** – Italian Air Force Pilot**  
><strong>****Professor Albert Einstein**** – Chief Scientist at Argonne National Laboratory, Illinois**  
><strong>****Robert Oppenheimer**** – Scientist at Argonne National Laboratory, Illinois**  
><strong>****Enrico Fermi**** – Scientist at Argonne National Laboratory, Illinois


	2. Prologue

**Normandy, France – June 6****th****, 1944**

A strong breeze crashed into the side of the landing craft sending it rocking over the choppy seas of the English Channel towards its final destination of Omaha Beach. Inside the small landing craft, thirty brave men were pressed like sardines into the cramped quarters as they waited their chance to fight and die for the sake of freeing Europe from the iron grasp of Hitler's Third Reich. While the thought of what lay waiting for them atop the high cliffs of the Normandy coastline, the men's present thoughts were directed towards the mysterious young girl who was added to the crew at the last second, standing front and center by the gate.

The girl, one Captain Gertrude Barkhorn, sported long brown twin-tails and a grey uniform coat, sported more firepower than they had ever seen a single warrior carry. In addition to the Maschinengewehr 42 currently undergoing meticulous inspection, the young teen had a second MG'42 slung across her shoulder as well as a Luger M40 sidearm strapped to a used standard issue utility belt lent to her by 'Uncle Sam'.

"Landing zone spotted!" called the helmsman.

The soldiers watched in awe as Barkhorn shifted the large gun into her left hand as she reached her right up to grab the second. The girl then glanced back over her shoulder at the assembled men who were showing clear signs of nervousness.

"Listen up! When this door drops," Barkhorn shouted over the din "I want all of you on me until we reach the shingle! Do that, and I guarantee your safety! Don't like it? Take it up with your commanding officer Captain Maitlen."

(Meanwhile)

Atop the high cliffs of Normandy, Erwin Rommel peered through his binoculars at the approaching landing craft from his staff car. Lowering his binoculars he turned to face the latest member of his staff. A young German girl of about twenty years of age sporting a single long scar across the bridge of her nose sat contemplatively in the seat next to the acclaimed 'Desert Fox'.

"What's our status, Fraulein?"

Group Captain Hanna Rudel grabbed the radio transmitter from the Feldmarschall's outstretched hands. "Major Bach, status report!" she ordered.

"All troops are in position and awaiting signal."

"Make sure my Striker is ready when we get there. We're going to have to move fast once the attack begins."

"Understood ma'am" replied Bach. "Bach. Over and out."

Hanna Rudel glanced over at the Desert Fox. "It's show time. Should we give the order to attack?"

Rommel thought for a moment then handed the young Karsland witch his binoculars. "Since this was your plan, it doesn't seem right to take all the glory. This is your show, so you should be the one to draw first blood."

Rudel allowed herself a broad grin then, clicking her heels together gave Rommel the crispest salute she could muster. "Jawohl , herr Feldmarschall!"

Rudel took the binoculars and turned to look out over the cliffs at the massive numbers of approaching landing craft. As she watched she counted down slowly in the back of her mind as she raised the radio transmitter up to her mouth. Then, taking a single, deep breath, Rudel pressed down on the button of the radio transmitter.

"For the Fatherland! Commence attack!"


	3. Chapter 1: Tora! Tora! Tora!

****December, 7********th******** 1941 – Opana Station, Oahu: ~7:00 AM Pacific Standard Time****

Private Ray Carlson stared reached tiredly for his cup of coffee as he stared blankly at radar's oscilloscope. The Opana Mobile Radar Station was one of six on the isle of Oahu

'Blank as usual' he grimaced, setting the coffee down and reaching his right hand up to stifle a yawn before glancing over his shoulder at the other young private, a boy by the name of Eddie Stenton sitting quietly at his radio transmitter.

"You got anything on your end?"

Stenton over his shoulder at , "Not sure...I did hear from a buddy of mine who works over at HQ that there's rumors circulating over at headquarters about the USS Ward."

"The destroyer?"

Stenton nodded, "That's the one. Apparently it saw some action at 0645, but it hasn't been confirmed so keep a lid on it, he could probably loose his job."

"Sure thing" Carlson nodded, then suddenly a thought popped into his mind and he glanced worriedly back at the radar screen before breathing a sigh of relief.

'Still blank.' he thought, before chuckling to himself silently in his mind. 'Who am I kidding, we've got the whole damn fleet here. Nobody would dare attack us here.'

"Beep"

Carlson's heart skipped a beat as a green blip appeared blightly on the screen. Then seconds later another...and another.

"Uh...hey...Mind come looking at this?" he asked nerviously, an unprecedented sense of foreboding flooding his mind and causing his heart to begin beating faster and faster.

Stenton glanced over with a puzzled look on his face before standing and walking over to stare at the Oscilloscope.

"You seeing this? I'm counting close to fifty aircraft seventy miles out and closing."

Stenton couldn't believe his eyes. Pearl might have only had these new stations less than a month but he couldn't imagine ever seeing a bigger cloud of activity then what he was witnessing.

"I'll contact Shafter. Keep an eye on 'em."

Carlson watched as Stenton raced over to his station to contact the fort. Fort Shafter was the hub of Pearl Harbor's radar network, if anyone knew what was going on, it would be them.

Carlson watched as Stenton talked animatedly over the phone, every few seconds casting a glance back at the oscilloscope. Suddenly Stenton's body relaxed and he set down the phone with an audible sigh of relief.

"Lieutenant says don't worry about it." Stenton stated with relief "Wouldn't tell us what was going on though, 'security protocols' and all." he added with slight annoyance.

Carlson scoffed ruefully and glanced back at the screen...

****Spring 1945 – Dover Straight, Brittania****

Moonlight lit a blackened sky as a Karlsland transport plane buzzed its way across the channel towards its final destination of London. Escorting the craft were Flying Officer Alexandra Vladimirovna Litvyak, or Sanya for short, from the Orrusian Aviation Corps and Major Heidemarie Schaufner of Karlsland's prestigious Luftwaffe. Accompanying the two, were the illustrious members of the world renowned 501st Joint Fighter Wing, the Strike Witches.

On this particular night, the air was fraught with tension, for a new Neuroi had been spotted off the coasts of Britannia and Suomos. Well, not a Neuroi per say, but it was definitely a structure of Neuroi origin. News of this had been a cause for great concern amongst the higher ups. So much so that Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring had contacted the witches regarding an emergency briefing with Eisenhower and Churchill, and the witches 'supreme commander's Air Marshall Adolphine Galland had complied.

And now Galland, along with Wing Commanders Minna-Dietlande Wilcke, Gundula Rall, and Hanna Rudel were now heading to discuss this new and unknown threat alongside Karlsland's top technical minds: Fredericke Porsche and Ursula Hartmann.

In the sky outside the Karlsland Junker, Sanya hummed quietly to herself as she watched the stars shining high up in the sky. As she watched, her thoughts drifted back to the day in Romagna that she and her dear Eila had seen the heavens for themselves. Her cheeks flushed momentarily, but long enough for Heidemarie Schaufner to catch the Orussian's blush out of the corner of her eyes.

"You look like you're enjoying yourself." she remarked in her usual deadpan tone.

Sanya gasped and looked in the opposite direction so as to not have to look at her Karlsland counterpart.

"Just thinking to myself. Nothing special." Sanya replied after a moment.

Major Hiedemarie blinked, her face unreadable.

"I see..." replied Schaufner, returning her mind back towards her own thoughts on the mission.

The two flew on in awkward silence for several minutes until the sound of another Striker caused her to glance back to see who it was.

"Hey Sanya!" greeted Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen cheerfully. "Thought I'd...ya know...uh...keep you company." Eila trailed off as her face slowly got redder and redder the longer she looked into Sanya's blue eyes.

Sanya couldn't help but notice Eila's reaction and reached up and placed the back of her right hand delicately upon the Suomos witch's forehead.

"Eila...are you alright?" asked Sanya with genuine concern, completely misreading Eila's reaction to the Orussian's presence.

"I'm fine Sanya." replied Eila, waving Sanya's hand away. "So how's it going with spooky?"

At the word 'spooky', Eila thumbed over in Heidemarie's direction. The Karlsland Witch's nickname, the 'Ghost of St. Trond' was well known by practically all the witches though few had ever actually met the girl.

Sanya pouted disapprovingly and chided, "Eila, it's not polite to speak that way about people. Especially those you don't even know. You're better than that."

Eila grimaced at the sharp rebuke "Ehh...Sorry, Sanya..."

"Anyway, its been really quiet." Sanya stated suddenly to change the subject.

Hiedemarie glanced over at the Orussian then turned her gaze back on the full moon.

"Yeah." nodded Eila "Its kinda creepy. Especially knowing that weird Neuroi...thing is out there."

Eila reached into her jacket and pulled out her deck of Tarot Cards. Sanya watched curiously as Eila gave the deck a quick shuffle and flipped the top card over.

The Tower.

**Inside the Karlsland Junker...**

"That's the best shot our recon planes could get before we lost them." stated Rudel plainly.

"What do you think Porsche?" asked Rall. "Some kind of fortification?"

"I don't think so." stated the technician calmly as she leaned back in her seat and folding her arms behind her head, causing her rather prominant chest to strain her shirt to the point that Minna half-expected a button to burst. "Unlikely anyways, the way their so close together."

"If you look here" Porsche unfolded her right arm and pointed casually at various to portions of the water that were glowing the Neuroi's signature red glow giving way to large tendril like structures moving inland "The Neuroi appear to be attempting to tap into our old power grids to siphon off energy. Much like they attempted at your base in Venezia." Porsche directed the last remark towards Minna.

Minna nodded. "I thought so as well. Still we have to get more intel before..." Minna trailed off as the cabin light overhead began to flicker. "Before we can plan our attack."

The lights flickered again, and Gundula Rall glanced up towards the cockpit.

"You think there's a problem with the batteries?" she asked to no one in particular.

"We can only hope." grumbled Rudel, as the Stuka witch glanced over her shoulder to look out the window...

**Outside the Karsland Junker...**

Lieutenant Erica Hartman was starting to really hate this particular escort detail. Not only was quickly falling asleep, but the dull ache of her perpetually empty stomach was starting to get to her. Finally, she just couldn't take it anymore and suddenly began flailing her arms and legs in the air...

"THIS SUCKS! I wanna go home!" Karlsland's ace of aces whined loudly.

"Lieutenant Hartmann!" shouted Sakamoto over the intercom, stopping the young Karlsland witch's antics almost immediately "Pull, yourself together or its extra training for you when we get back to base!"

Hartmann groaned as Barkhorn shot her partner a disgusted glance, muttering 'And you call yourself a Karlsland soldier. Disgraceful...'

Glancing around in boredom, Hartmann's eyes shot open as she spotted a bright aura over the northern horizon.

"Hey check it out guys!" cried Hartmann over the radio. "The Northern Lights!"

Sure enough, in the skies to the north a greenish light blazed radiantly from over the horizon. The group watched in awe of its beauty. As they flew the aura rose higher and higher into the sky.

There was a brief crackle over the radio and then the Luftwaffe pilot's voice came over the radio. "Major, we're picking up some strange interference with our equipment."

From the back of the pack, Sakamoto stopped and scanned the horizon with her magical eye. Nothing. In anticipation for attack, the witches closed formation around the Karlsland Junker, readying their respective weapons.

"I'm getting interference as well" came Sanya's voice over Sakamoto's headset "If it gets any stronger, I doubt I will be able to detect any incoming Neuroi."

"Same here" confirmed Hiedemarie softly.

"Eagle-1 to Major Sakamoto. Report" came a female voice over the radio. "Whats going on"

"The aura must be causing mild disturbance to radio waves" replied Sakamoto. "I don't think its anything to be concerned about Eagle-1."

"Look, the lights!" shouted Shirley, pointing off towards the Britanian coast. All across the coast, lights were going out systematically, as if a blackout had just occurred."

"Why are the lights going out?" asked Miyafuji, unable to hide the intense unease that she was beginning to feel.

"It's not just Britania, look!" cried Perrine.

The witches came to a hover midair and Sakamoto turned her gaze around and back towards Gallia. To Sakamoto's surprise, Perrine was right. Not a single light could be seen in all of Gallia. It was as if the world itself had gone dark.

"What the hell's going on?!" shouted Miyafuji as she frantically looked around at her companions. Yoshika's gaze came to a halt on Eila, who grasped a single tarot card inside a shaking hand.

"We...we have to leave." stated Eila with more fear in her voice than anyone had ever heard from her before. "Now!"

"What is it Eila?" asked Sanya, as she flew over to comfort her closest friend.

Eila stared straight into Sanya's eyes as Sakamoto approached from behind the Orussian witch. A second later Eila turned the card around to face them. The Tower.

"Everyone, prepare for combat. Protect the Air Marshall's plane at all cost."

"But, I don't sense any Neuroi." murmured Hiedemarie quietly.

Without warning Minna's voice cried out over the radio, "MIO! The aura! It's getting closer!"

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Sakamoto before spinning her gaze back towards .

Sure enough, the aura was closing in on them at incredible speed. There may not be time to avoid it, but Sakamoto would damn well try.

"All witches! Evasive action! NOW!"

But by the time the order was given, it was too late. The plane, its passengers, and the 501st Joint fighter wing were engulfed in blue light.

For a moment, time seemed to slow to a halt. Sakamoto covered her eye with an arm as she jerked her gaze away. Then a strange tugging feeling filled her, like she was being pulled somewhere but she could not feel anything touching her.

Aboard the Junker, the aircraft's captain shouted orders to his co-pilot. From what little Minna could gather, their instruments had gone haywire and sparks were flying about the cockpit as the smell of burnt electronics filled the cabin. Reaching up to her earpiece, Commander Minna called out to her witches but was unable to hear any response over the din of the anomaly.

Then, as quickly as the anomaly had come, it vanished. Leaving the aircraft and its guardian witches soaring over an endless sea. England...and Europe had just vanished before their eyes.

"All witches, immediate status report! What happened?" Sakamoto ordered over the radio. "Sanya, can you see anything?"

"Initial scans indicate zero Neuroi contacts, ma'am" the Orussian responded.

"I concur" added Heidemarie, her normally calm voice showing faint signs of nervousness.

"Minna, its Sakamoto." came Mio's voice over the radio "I don't see any Neuroi either, but I can see some islands about three hundred kilometers due east. They appear inhabited."

"Major Sakamoto, this is Galland" came the Air Marshall's stoic voice. "As of this moment I am recinding all current orders. We will proceed to these islands and re-establish communications. Once we do so we may be able to obtain some idea of what the hell just happened."

"Understood ma'am" replied Sakamoto before the comlink went dead.

Minna turned and glanced at her fellow commanders. Galland's face was stoic, but her eyes showed clear signs of concern while Gundula Rall appeared in deep thought, right hand to her chin and a frown on her face. Rudel on the other hand was lounged back in her seat, eyes closed. As if sensing Minna's gaze, Rudel cracked her left eye open and glanced at her fellow commander.

"Now's not the time to be worrying Oberstleutnant Minna." Rudel stated plainly "There's land in site and both our scouts stated there's not a Neuroi in sight. We can worry all we want, but after we get to land."

"Your right, of course." Minna nodded, forcing a smile despite her concerns surrounding the witches' current predicament.

****Pearl Harbor, Oahu 7:40am****

Like a swarm of gnats, fifty one 'Val' dive bombers, forty 'Kate' torpedo bombers, fifty high level bombers, and fourty-three 'Zero' fighters flew undetected over the isle of Oahu. Their low altitude meant there was no chance that they would be detected until it was too late.

Then out of the silence, a young man's voice could be heard speaking in English...

"...clouds mostly over the mountains. Visibility good."

****Allied Command Center at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor 7:55am****

The throaty roar of an incomming aircraft caused Commodore Ramsey to furrow his brow in irritation.

'Damn hotshot pilots' he grimaced, standing up from his desk and walking over to the window. As he did he noticed a second plane soar by. As it did so, Ramsey noticed a black object fall from the underside of the plane. His eyes widened in horror and he broke away from the window as fast as he could, racing out of his office and to the radio room. The sound of the door slamming open startles the operators just preparing for their morning duties.

"Send a message to every ship and base on this entire damn island!" he ordered. "Air raid on Pearl Harbor. Stop. This is not a drill!"

By the time the message is sent, the attack is well underway with Japanese dive bombers already attacking two of the bases nearby air fields at Wheeler and Hickam minutes away from Battleship Row.

Ensign Lucchini was the first to see the flashes of light from Pearl Harbor.

"Look, an explosion!" she shouted as two more flashes could be seen and the first plumes of black smoke began to rise into the air.

"An attack? Sanya!" ordered Sakamoto.

"I'm not detecting any Neuroi in the area." the Orussian stated, shaking her head.

"Wait a sec...this place" mumbled Shirley as she looked around at her surroundings. It looked had looked familiar to her, like something she had seen before, but she only now realized where they were.  
>"Its Pearl!"<p>

Shirley's striker roared to life as the witch broke formation and rocketed off in a mighty boom towards the rising plumes of smoke leaving the others behind.

"Shirley, wait!" shouted Sakamoto angrily. "God damn it! Lets go!"

****Pearl Harbor, Oahu 8:00am****

Captain Charlotte Yeager's eyes widened in horror as she soared towards the fray, it took only seconds to realize what she was seeing. Aircraft bearing an emblem remarkably similar to the Fuso military were engaged in combat with.

Shirley blinked and tried to shake her thoughts clear. No, it was impossible. Fuso would never turn on an ally. Besides, what could possibly be gained from such an attack, especially with the Neuroi to deal with. It didn't make sense. Accelerating faster, Shirley notices a group of the unknown dive bombers soaring towards the already burning USS California. Striker roaring to life, the Liberion witch banked hard bringing her weapon to bare as she dove at her target from behind.

"Not on your life!" she shouted, opening fire causing the plane to explode into flames. The shrapnel from the explosion catches the plane on its right flank causing it to careen out of control, but not after unleashing its deadly payload. The left wing man breaks off suddenly in surprise, unleashing his bomb as he does so, the force of the spin sending the bomb careening through the air, slamming it into the base of the battleships control tower. The force of the explosion rips a hole through part of the already compromised hull, and the tower begins emitting a loud groan before suddenly collapsing forward onto the main deck.

"You'll pay for that!" growls Shirley, her blood beginning to boil more and more in pure, unadulterated anger. Seconds later she already has her next target a mixed band of torpedo and dive bombers heading for the USS Utah. Bringing her striker unit to speed the Liberion soars off towards her new targets.

One by one, the witch took her enemy down, but for her every kill she claimed seemed to cost an even greater sacrifice as more and more of the ships below fell prey to their enemy. Yet she would fight on, until every last one of these bastards were dead. Just as she was going to pursue her next kill, a familiar voice crackled over Shirley's comm device.

"Shirley! Above you!" cried Lucchini's voice.

Charlotte Yeager jerked around just in time to see a quick glimpse of several high altitude bombers off in the distance soaring through the clouds towards the USS Arizona, the pride battleship of Liberion's Pacific Fleet.

"I'll take these creeps, you get the bombers!"

"Thanks Lucchini" replied Shirley with a faint smile as she tore off after the bombers, already beginning to accelerate faster and faster.

A burst of automatic gunfire broke Shirley's concentration, as two Zero's careened towards her. Throwing up her shield, the first plane crashed straight into her in a mighty ball of flames as the second pulls off and tries to make a break for it. Opening fire, Shirley clips the wing and tale of the other Zero, causing it to careen into the harbor below. Free from distraction, Shirley took off once more for the bombers but realized it was too late.

****8:10 am ****

Totally helpless, Shirley could only watch in horror as a single armor piercing bomb penetrated the the bow of the mighty battleship's deck just right of turret number two, penetrating nearly 12cm of armored steel hull before finally coming to a stop four decks down. Shirley watched as a crowd gathered around the hole on the main deck before running as fast as they could away from it. But it was too late. A fireball tore through the ship's three magazines and out the main deck in front of turret number one, sending the 30,500 ton buckling hull of the Arizona straight out of the water forming an almost arch shape. Time seemed to slow for the Liberion witch until seconds later, ships hull ruptured in a violent explosion sending debris and crewmen flying as the ship crashed back into the water.

Seconds later, two zeros soared in, firing upon the surviving crew thrashing about in the water. It was a massacre unlike anything Charlotte E. Yeager had ever seen in her life. In the back of her mind there was no mistake. These were Fuso aircraft. Frozen from a mix of fear and anger, she did not hear the sound of a striker come to a stop behind her. Her body went numb, causing her to unconsciously drop her BAR.

"Captain Yeager, what the hell are you doing?" shouted Sakamoto, coming up from behind. "Where's the enemy?."

Shirley did not respond. Sakamoto reached out a hand to the witch's shoulder but stopped. Shirley was shaking. Her arms held tight to the side of her body and her hands balled into white-knuckled fists.

"The enemy?" Shirley mumbled...

"Spit it out! Where are they?" asked Mio, becoming slightly annoyed.

"The enemy is here." replied Shirley, slowly turning around as though a zombie and raising her gun to point at Mio.

"The enemy is from Fuso."

*Bang*

Authors note: Shirley and Mio's conversation at the end of the chapter is a tip of the hat to the quote by Mitsuhide Akechi, "The enemy lies at Honnō-ji". Also, apologies for the poor format. never has been very compatible in that regard. Any suggestions in this matter, please feel free to send me a PM.


End file.
